John Oliver, fake religions, & the disciples of new digital churches

All hail Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption and blessings be upon its anointed Megareverend John Oliver. Yes, indeed, the host of Last Week Tonight on HBO, is now the head of a brand spankin’ new religion. According to Brian Pellot of Religion News Service:

The HBO satirist launched a tax-exempt church Sunday night to criticize the Internal Revenue Service’s hands-off approach to televangelist fraudsters who promise prosperity, at a price.

Oliver joins a long list of parody religions, “antibelief systems,” and “authentic fakes” like Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Church of the Almighty Dollar, Disciples of the New Dawn, and the Discount House of Worship in registering a scathing satire of established religions in an effort to critique or call into question the proposed abuses, miscues, and false claims of religion.

While new media and communications technologies (such as the internets, Web 2.0, and social media) are conduits for conventional religions and institutions, they are also fertile ground for the growth of fresh, fabricated, and “fake” religions. In a culture replete with parody, satire, snark, and irony are we the least bit surprised?

But here’s the deal — these fake religions can end up having very real effects in the world.